Bag



Oct. 22, `1935. 'I y W N BAKER ETAL 2,017,838

' lNvENToRs fil .Patented Oct.` 22, 19354 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEBAG tion of Delaware Application November 15, 1934, Serial No.` 753,118

4 Claims.

Our invention relates to an improvement in open-mouth gussetted bags,particularly, but not necessarily, multi-ply bags of large size andadaptedto contain about onehundred pounds of pulverulent materials. Y

Essentially, the primary object of our invention is to devise some meansintegral with the bag structure itself 4whereby the filling of such bagsis accomplished without disrupting the folds of the gussets. Adisadvantage inherent in paper bags of the open mouth type is theirtendency to become disarranged in the filling operation to such anextent that it is impossible to guide them through the usual closingmechanism, which closi ing mechanism is preferably a sewing machineadapted to apply a line of stitches across the open mouth of the bag.

A secondary object of our invention is to obtain the primary object insuch a manner that the appearance of the bag is not noticeably altered.Paper bags appeal strongly to consumers who have heretofore relied uponbags made of'co'arse textiles. One of the reasons that large paper bagshave become commercially successful is that they prsent a smoothexterior upon which ne print and appealing designs may be carried. Anadvantage of our invention lies in the preservation of this smooth,unbroken exterior.

Bags made in accordance with our invention are peculiarly adapted to belled and closed by the type of machine set forth in copendingapplication of Robert N. Cundall and Lincoln A. Cundall, Serial No.757,772, filed December 17, 1934.i In

such a machine, as the bag is being filled, the

open mouth is unrestrained and unsupported.

The Weight of the material tends to bulge the gusv sets outwardlywhereupon the operator must take time to rearrange the gussets at themouth of the bag before the bag can be presented to the closing machine.Our invention prevents this delay in the operation of the type ofmachine set forth in the aforementioned application, as

well as in any type of machine wherein gussetted bags are filled andclosed. I

Our invention is set forth in detail in the following specincation andillustratedin the accompanying drawing wherein like numerals refer tolike parts throughout.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a preferred form of our invention, the bag being brokenaway at its middle portion;

Fig. 2 is a partial View of a bag showing one corner thereof and asimple form of our invention applied thereto;

Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are views similar to Fig. 2 showing ramificationsof the invention;

Fig. 7 is a view of the upper portion of a bag made in accordance withour invention;

Fig. 8 is an 'end view of the open mouth of a 5 bag having our inventionapplied 'thereto as the bag appears when filled, or partially filled;

Fig. 9 shows the manner in which the gussets of an ordinary bag becomedisrupted during the filling operation; l lo Fig. l 'is a large scaleview of one end of an open bag mouth illustrating the invention lappliedto a multi-ply bag; and

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view of a lling and closing machine whereinthe bag is filled and closed.

An open mouth bag, as it is sold to the consumer, consists of a tubularblank having gussets 2l formed therein .by folding inwardly the edges ofa attened, tubular blank. The bottom 20 of the bag is closed by aclosure extending through the'gussets -and which is preferably a line ofstitches, or which may be staples, or other closing means indicated inFig. 1 at 22. Preferably, the bag is manufactured with a strip 23 of ad-25 herent material, such as gummed crepe paper, folded over the end ofthe bag to prevent sifting of materials through the stitches or throughthe stitch holes, and also to protect the stitches andv preserve theuniformity of appearance of the bag. 30

Heretofore bags in the condition described were then ready for use withthe resulting disadvantages indicated above.

Our invention consists in applyinga gussetholding means to the open endof the bag. For

reasons of simplicity of manufacture and maximum strength the form ofgusset-holding means illustrated in Figs. 1, 8 and 10 is preferred.`This means consists essentially of a wire staple 24, clinched throughthe corners of the bag with 40 the body of the-staple lparallel to themouth of the bag, and a. strip of reinforcing material 25 bent inU-shape around the side of the bag with the ends of the strip underlyingthe body and clinched points of the staple. This strip of reinforcingmaterial is preferably'tough fibrous material, but of course metallic orother bendable strip materials may be substituted therefor. Thisreinforcing strip is practically necessary in connection with large,multi-ply, bags designed to contain heavy materials since the expandingforce exerted by the charge being dump-edinto the bag is oftentremendous and would rip the gussets open in spite of the staples. Fig.2 merely shows a stapled gusset with the reinforcing strip omitted.

Greater strength, or a more pleasing appearance, may be obtained with`other forms of stapling means such as the well-known eyelet illustratedat 26 in Figs. 3 and 4, or rivet 21 illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. Otherforms of stapling means will readily suggest themselves. Observationshave convinced us that the enlarged heads of eyelets are advantageous inpackaging some materials where the blow struck by the falling charge issharper andheavier than with other materials. Likewise, the greatergripping ability of a clinched rivet is desirable in certain instancesand the mechanism of some types of closing machines make the rivetsdesirable since they can be forced to lie practically flush with thesurface of the bag.

Each form of holding means herein illustrated is similar to others inthat the holding means consists of an element forced through the pliesof the bag and clinched in some manner to hold the gussets in place.

Fig. 9 serves to illustrate the reason for the preferred form ofreinforcing means comprising a strip of material bent around the edge ofthe bag as in Figs. 8 and 10, the said Fig. 9 showing the manner inwhich the gussets of an ordinary bag tend to open and become disarrangedduring the filling operation and as the sides of the bag bulge outwardlydue to the presence of the filling material therein. Figs. 8 and 10 showthe preferred form of reinforcing means applied to the mouth of a bag inaccordance with the present invention, the reinforcing means comprisinga strip of material bent around the end edge of the bag. Of course, thereinforcing means could consist of two separate pieces of material, eachplaced between an end of the gusset holding element and the adjacentsurface of the bag. The illustrated form is preferred because itmaterially H increases the force required to rip the gusset-holdingelement through the bag. The gussets are formed by bending the edges 55of a flattened tubular blank inwardly so that 4the edge of the bag willbe at the fold lines 56 rather than at 55.

. During the filling of the bag the side walls 51 tend to be bowedoutwardly, spreading the gussets so that the bag approaches arectangular shape, which is unobjectionable as far as the body of thebag is concerned but must be restrained at the open mouth. 'I'hegusset-holding means hold the gussets in place at the mouth of the bagso that the edge 55 is held in reentrant position at the mouth andbulges beyond edges 56 slightly below the mouth. There is thus aconsiderable outward force on the gusset walls slightly below the openend and the fold lines 56 come together at a considerable angle, thustending to rip the outer leg of the staple 25, or the outer edge ofwhatever holding means is used, through the bag rather than to place adistributed strain upon the entire end of the holding element. Thereinforcing strip 26, if folded around the side edge of the bag, bringsthe folds 56 together at point 58 and restrains the gussets to such anextent that the outward force is distributed evenly throughout theextent of the gusset-holding means.

Figs. l to 6 show forms of holding means so related to the lip of thebag that the usual closing mechanism will apply a line of ,closure 3| ofstitches or staples below the stapling means; neither the staple nor thereinforcing strip interfering with the action of the closingmechanism.

This location of the stapling means is bound to be advantageousprimarily because of the treatment which a large filled bag usuallyreceives in shipment. As is well known, these bags are dropped or thrownmany times and may burst before reaching their ultimate destination. Torelieve the excessive strains on the closing line and thereby strengthenone point at whichbreakage is liable 5 to occur, certain types ofclosures have been devised, such as that set forth in the patent to W.Noyes Baker, No. 1,913,825, dated June 13, 1933. It is apparent thatplacing the holding means below the line of closure would reduce theefficacy of such closures, and likewise might in itself lead to loss ofmaterial if the holding means should be pulled through the material ofthe bag.

However, there are certain types of closing machines which will notpermit this relationship of the stapling means and the line of closure,and for this reason the staple, or other holding means, may be placedbelow the line of closure as indicated in Fig. '7, but in no eventshould it be placed far below. y 20 Figs. 8 and 10 show how the mouth ofa bag made in accordance with the present invention tends to open, as,the bag mouth is spread to receive a filling spout through which thematerial may be dumped, such as the filling spout in Fig. 11. Fig. 11diagrammatically represents a filling and closing machine having aconveyor 4 I, a filling means indicated by the spout 40 and a closingmeans indicated by a sewing head 42. The center line of the sewingneedle is indicated at 43 as slightly below the staple 24 andreinforcing strip 25 applied to the bag 26 being filled. Such amachine'is detailed in the aforementioned application of Robert N.Cundall and Lincoln A. Cundall. This machine is also adapted to apply 35a strip of gummed material, similar to strip 23, over the end of the bagcarrying the holding means. An advantage of our invention is that theholding means is covered by strip 45 so that the uniform appearance ofthe bag is preserved.

Other modifications in form and arrangement will readily suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art and we do not intend to belimited to the exact details set forth herewith, but the scope of ourinvention is to be determined by the following claims which are to bebroadly construed.

We claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a heavy-duty, open-mouth, papershipping bag comprising a -iiattened tubular body portion provided withgussets extending along its opposite longitudinal edges, a closure atone end of said body portion forming a gussetted bag having an openmouth at one end, and means for preventing spreading of the ends of saidgussets adjacent. said open mouth during the filling of the bag and thesubsequent closing of said open mouth, comprising fastening meanslocated adjacent to, and on each side of, the open mouth within the areaof the gussets, said fastening means being ofrsuicient strength towithstand strains set up in those portions of the gussets adjacent theopen mouth by theloperations of filling and closing the bag, and by theoutward bulging of the intermediate portion of the bag when lled.

2. As an article of manufacture, a heavy-duty, open-mouth, papershipping bag comprising a flattened tubular body portion provided withgussets extending along its opposite longitudinal edges, a closure atone end of said body portion forming a gussetted bag having an openmouth at one end, and means for preventing spreading of the ends of saidgussets adjacent said open mouth during the filling of the bag and thesubsequent closing of said open mouth, comprising elements passingthrough the plies of the bag and the gussets, said elements beinglocated adjacent to, and on each side of, the open mouth within the areaof the gussets, and being of sufiicient strength to withstand strainsset up in those portions of the gussets adjacent the open mouth by theoperations of lling and closing the bag, and by the outward bulging ofthe intermediate portion of the bag when lled.

3. As an article of manufacture, a heavy-duty, open-mouth, papershipping vbag comprising a iiattened tubular body portion provided withgussets extending along its opposite longitudinal edges, a closure atone end of said body portion forming a gussetted bag having an openmouth at one end, and means for preventing spreading of the ends of saidgussets adjacent said open mouth during the filling of the bag and thesubsequent closing of said'open mouth, comprising elements passingthrough the plies of the bag and the gussets and reinforcing meansplaced between the surface of the bag and the ends of said elements,said means being located adjacent to, and on each side of, the openmouth within the area of the gussets, and being of sucient strength towithstand strains set up in those portions of the gussets adjacenttheopen mouth by the operations of lling and closing Vthe bag,

and by the outward bulging of the intermediate portion of the bag whenlled.

4. As an article of manufacture, a heavy-duty, open-mouth, papershipping bag comprising a flattened tubular` body portion provided withgussets extending along its opposite longitudinal edges, a closure atone end of said body portion forming a gussetted bag having an openmouth at one end, and means for preventing spreading of the ends of saidgusset-s adjacent said open mouth during the filling of the bag and thesubsequent closing of said open mouth, comprising elements passingthrough the plies of the bag and the gussets and a strip of reinforcingmaterial bent around each longitudinal edge of the bag and having itsends positioned between the surface of the bag and the ends of one ofsaid elements, said means being located adjacent. to, and on each sideof, the open mouth within the area of the gussets, and being of sufcientstrength to withstand strains set up in those portions of the gussetsadjacent the open mouth by the operations of filling andclosing the bag,and by the outward bulging of the intermediate portion of the bag whenlled.

HARRY C. KNODE. J. WALKER GRIMM. t W. NOYES BAKER.

